Envelop-opener



E. R. FLEMING.

ENVELOP OPENER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 21, 1921.

1,400, 09,, Patnted Dec. 20, 1921.

mmmn b EDW'ARD R. FLEMING, 0E BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

ENVEL OP-OPENER.

inoasoe;

Application filed January 21, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD R. FLEMING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, in the county of Baltimore city, and btate of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Envelop-Openers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to envelop openers, and its object is to provide simple and eflicient means for opening an envelop without danger of mutilating or tearing its contents as is liable to occur in using envelop openers such as ordinarily used with a pointed end to be thrust into the envelop from the outside, and to effectively conceal the opener within the envelop, the only exposed part being a part of a tongue projecting through and overlapping one end of the envelop to adapt it to be taken hold of for drawing the opener out through said end and thus opening the envelop.

The invention will first be hereinafter more particularly described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are to be taken as a part of this specification, and then pointed out in the claim at the end of the description.

In said drawings,

Figure 1 represents a front elevation of an envelop having my improved opener inclosed therein, the opener being indicated in dotted lines:

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same showing the opener in the act of being with drawn to open the envelop by tearing open one end;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view the line 3-3 of 2; and

Fig. 4: is a detail sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Referring to said drawings, in which the same reference letters are used to denote corresponding parts in different views, the letter A may denote an ordinary envelop having an incision (I, at one end thereof through which protrudes a tongue 7) of an envelop opener B inclosed within the envelop, said tongue being turned back upon itself so as to overlie one end of the envelop and is inserted in an incision or incisions in the envelop, preferably parallel. incisions for the passage taken on Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 26 1921. Serial No. 438,978.

of the tongue under a strap a thus formed for holding the tongue in place, the opener being concealed within the envelop and adapted to be drawn out by pulling on said tongue and thereby tearing the envelop open at one end. The opener in the form shown consists simply of a piece of paper in the form of an isosceles triangle with a base of a width almost equal to the width of the envelop in which it is inclosed and having at the apex thereof a reduced extension or tongue 6 for the purpose stated, this tongue being preferably stained in some contrasting color or not of the same color as the envelop, but more highly colored to attract attention. But I desire it to be understood that the opener may be made of any suitable flexible material, and that its form may be varied without departing from the scope of my invention, though paper of the form described is preferred, and it will also be un derstood that the word paper as used in the appended claim is intended to include any other suitable material.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is An envelop opener combined with an envelop having an incision at one end thereof, said opener consisting of a body of thin material concealed within the envelop and having the form of an isosceles triangle one of the sides or base of which is shorter than its equal sides, the latter converging gradually toward one end of the envelop so as to provide acute cutting edges adapted to easily cut their way through the end of the envelop. and having at the apex of said converging sides a reduced extension protruding through said incision, said extension being turned back so as to overlie the end portion of the envelop and having its exposed surface colored unlike the color of the envelop, together with releasable means for securing said extension to the side of the envelop, whereby said extension is adanted to serve as a means for pulling the opener out of the envelop and to attract attention thereto bv reason of the contrasting colors.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD R. FLEMING.

Witnesses Lnn PURCELL, M. B. HA SON, 

